


Good Intentions

by happyaspie



Series: Turning of the Tides [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Aged-Up Peter Parker, Angst with a Happy Ending, Apologies, But he's trying, College Student Peter Parker, Not Canon Compliant, Peter Parker is a Mess, Supportive May Parker (Spider-Man), Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Is Not Helping, Worried Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-10-17 05:30:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20615762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyaspie/pseuds/happyaspie
Summary: Tony is invited to give several days worth of lectures at MIT and Peter is actually really eager to have him so nearby.   The excitement only lasts for so long before Tony being so close become a bit more of a nuisance than expected.  This leads to several petty arguments, a lack of communication, one big blow up and eventually... amends.





	1. From Amusing to Aggravating

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is part of a series that I highly recommend you read in order.

"Are you sure you're okay with this, kiddo? I don't have to do it. I can still back out. I can tell 'em no.", Tony asked once again before ending his nightly call with Peter.

"I'm sure. It might even be kind of nice to have you nearby for a couple of weeks.", Peter replied with a smile. Apparently Tony had been asked by several of the professors to come in and do a guest lecture. Unbenonsed to Peter, it had been Pepper who'd suggested that he offer to stay nearby for two weeks rather than spreading them out. Then he could just allow them to work it out amongst themselves what classes he would be speaking to and that had landed him with a fairly full schedule. Twelve lectures total over the span of eight weekdays. "Is Pepper really okay with it?", he then asked out of curiosity. He was somewhat surprised that Tony was even willing to come and give days worth the guest lectures. He'd been, as Pepper had put it, an excessively doting husband, ever since they'd found out about the pregnancy.

Tony sighed. "Actually, this was sort of her idea.", he admitted in a low grumble. "Apparently she could use some time alone or something. You know usually, she nags me about not spending enough time with her and now she encouraging me to move out of the house for two weeks."

Laughing, Peter tried to imagine what that conversation had looked like. "I really don't mind. It's not like you're going to bother me or anything... right?"

Rolling his eyes, Tony smiled. "Of course, not. You're free to go about and do your own thing without me interfering... too much. ...but if I'm going to be there then I demand at least _some_ time together."

"You got it, Dad.", Peter said with a small grin. Calling the man dad to his face was still slightly awkward but immensely fulfilling at the same time. "Just not on Tuesdays or Thursdays... or Saturday. ...and Probably at least one of the two Wednesdays is out also. We'll figure it out, I promise."

"Alright, Bud. You should get some sleep before it gets too late, you have class in the morning.", Tony said softly as he became aware of the hour.

Peter laughed. "It's only eleven and I still have a paper to go over." The man was acting as though he was fifteen and had a curfew. "I don't have a bedtime anymore, you know."

"Don't you have a class at eight on Fridays?", Tony asked, ignoring the boy's last comment. They had all, May included, given up on setting kind of a real bedtime for the kid by the time he'd hit sixteen. At that point, it has seemed like the safer way to go. It kept him from sneaking out and disabling safty protocols in the spider-suit. They'd eventually agreed that as long as his grades didn't drop they'd let him figure it all out on his own.

Sighing, Peter rolled his eyes in amusement. "You know. I completely regret sharing my schedule with you.", he blandly replied. The man worried entirely too much and by giving him that schedule it seemed as though he'd added fuel to the fire. Not that he minded too much. Knowing that Tony worried about him made him feel good, safe. ...loved 

"Sure.", Tony laughed lightly. "Seriously though, don't stay up too late."

"I know.", Peter replied feigning annoyance. "Good-night. I love you. Talk to you tomorrow."

~o~o~o~o~o~

The very next Sunday, Peter was eagerly meeting Tony on campus. "Two whole weeks, huh?", he asked as the man embraced him.

"Yep. Two weeks. Well, not quite. I'm here until a week from Thursday.", Tony said with a smile. "My last, lecture is the Wednesday before. Are you coming to any of them?"

Peter laughed at the question because he loved hearing Tony talk and fully planned on attending at least two despite the fact that he wasn't enrolled in any of the classes the man was speaking in. "Probably but _I know_ you already know I'm not taking any of those classes.", Peter said with a smile.

"Like that would stop you.", Tony scoffed. He knew good and well that Peter had slipped into a few extra classes whenever he got wind of a particularly interesting topic. "Besides, all but three are outside of your class schedule. I checked."

At those words, Peter hesitated. He had no intention of attending _that many_ of the lectures. He was thrilled to have Tony so close by but he also had other things to do. Things that he wanted to do and to be honest, he just wasn't interested in every topic. Even if he was, he'd heard the man talk about most of them on more than one occasion. "I mean, I'll definitely come to some of them but, you know... I have to study and stuff too... so--"

"--Chill out, kid. You don't have to come to every single one.", Tony said with a laugh even though part of him was ever so slightly disappointed. He'd sort of hoped to have Peter's bright smile in the back row of as many of them as possible. "Do you want to go get some dinner? I really just stopped by to see you. I'm obviously not doing anything else here until tomorrow."

Peter smiled in earnest because he couldn't think of any better way to spend the evening. Not just because he'd missed Tony's company but also because he'd missed eating food that wasn't served off of a cart or from a cafeteria line. "Only if we can get something off campus. I want real food. That is delivered to me at a table.", Peter excitedly suggested knowing that Tony would happily humor him.

"You got it, bud.", Tony laughed as he swung his arm around Peter's shoulder and led him towards the car.

~o~o~o~o~o~

The first few days of Tony being there were great. Peter attended Tony's Monday morning lecture and smiled every time the man would make eye contact with him. That had been followed up by coffee together at an on campus cafe and they met up again later that evening for another dinner out. 

The next couple of days were a blur of classes and study groups. Though he was still taking care to make sure that he saw Tony at least once during the day just because he could. However, by Thursday the excitement of having Tony there had somewhat worn off and Peter ended up not making any plans with him at all. They had seen each other every day since Sunday and he ended up having a full day planned between classes, friends, studying, volunteering and his study group. He didn't really think anything of it. That is until he was with some friends on the lawn outside of one of the lecture halls and his phone began to buzz. 

Seeing as it was Tony, he decided to go ahead and answer it even though he had no idea what it could possibly be about. As far as he knew, the man was supposed to be heading into a lecture in the next half hour. "Hey, what's up?", Peter answered, hoping to make the call quick. 

"Nothing. I was just wondering why you weren't in class?", Tony asked in what he thought sounded like a casual voice but Peter could hear the accusation in it anyway.

"Huh?", Peter asked as he looked around to see if he could see where the man might be watching him from.

"You have class from two to three-forty-five on Thursdays. It's just after three o'clock. You're not skipping classes now, are you?", Tony asked deciding that he may as well get to the point.

Having finally spotted Tony on the steps of the building adjacent to the one he was outside of, Peter held up his hand in a mild, greeting. "Why would I skip class? You know I don't skip class.", Peter haughtily defended. 

"Could have fooled me. Looks like your playing hacky-sack instead of sitting inside that building over there."

"Oh my God. You're jumping to conclusions. The professor had an appointment and ended class early. I'm sorry I didn't update my schedule for you.", sarcastically replied with a roll of his eyes. He supposed he could see Tony's concern even if it was misplaced. He would never just up and decide to not go to class. His grades were important to him and thought the man knew that.

"Oh.", Tony breathed out in relief. "Sorry, Bud. I saw you out there and I was worried for a minute.", he said even though in the back of his mind he knew there wasn't actually anything to be worried about. Peter was a good kid and skipping class had never been his style. "I should have known better than that."

"Yeah, you should have because you know _I don't skip class._ However, you, on the other hand, are going to be late if you don't get inside. I'll call you tonight after the library.", Peter returned trying to sound more cheery than he felt. He was still sort of dumbfounded that Tony would think he'd choose not to go to a required lecture. 

~o~o~o~o~o~

For all of the aggravation, it had been easy enough to forgive Tony for getting all out of sorts after spotting him outside of his class. In fact, it didn't even come up again, not even when they spoke later that night. 

Peter sort of expected that to be the end of it but then Friday led to a similar situation. After his last class of the day, Peter ended up sitting at the cafe with one of the girls who he'd met while volunteering earlier in the year. After working together several times they'd realized that they had a lot in common and started hanging out some outside of work. They didn't see each other often but she was a good friend and Peter was always happy to have the chance to spend that little bit of extra time talking with her. 

The two of them sat together for quite a while catching up and Peter, being the gentleman that he was, paid the bill despite her protests. Then thought nothing of it when he hugged her as they exited and went their separate ways. From there he went back to his dorm to start working on a few papers and projects that had been assigned earlier that week and when it came time to take a break from that, he called Tony. He asked Tony about his lecture and Tony asked him about his classes. The conversation was going on as it always did and that's why the man's next question took Peter completely by surprise.

"Who was that girl you were with tonight?", the man asked with a glint of amusement in his eye. Peter hadn't mentioned dating anyone and was extremely curious to find out who this girl. He just hoped that if Peter was serious about dating, that he understood how hard it would be to balance a relationship along with everything else he'd taken on.

Slightly taken aback at the question, Peter stammered through his response. "She, she's just a friend I met a while back. We were just talking.", he finally managed to get out while wondering how Tony even knew he'd been with her. He shouldn't have even been on campus at that time of the evening. "Were you _watching_ me?"

"I happened to see you when I was heading out for the day. I stayed late to meet with a few people after class hours. I was going to say 'hi' but then it looked like you were on a date so I didn't.", Tony said with a teasing smirk.

Stuck somewhere between annoyed and completely shocked that Tony would make such a bold assumption, Peter furrowed his eyebrows and nearly shouted, "It wasn't a date!"

"Are you sure? It sure looked like a date when you hugged her good-night by the door.", Tony teased with a small laugh. He'd taken Peter's reaction as embarrassment rather than the irritation that it was.

Throwing the hand not holding the phone up in annoyance, Peter once again shouted. "Oh my God! I'm telling you _it wasn't a date_! She's a friend. I don't even see her that often and it's none of your business, anyway.", he adamantly pointed out with a glare. 

"Sure thing, kiddo. Whatever you say.", Tony laughed lightly.

"Ugh. She has a _girlfriend_, Tony. Not that _that's_ any of your business either.", Peter quickly retaliated as the conversation started to dissolve into a mild argument. At least on his end. 

Tony seemed to have finally caught on to Peter's exasperation and eased up. "Alright, fine. I get it. It wasn't a date.", he placated before things could digress any further. It wasn't his intention to start anything but clearly he'd touched a nerve.

"Thank you.", Peter curtly replied before practically begging the man to back off some. "Now, would you please stop stalking me? You told me you wouldn't."

"I'm not!", Tony defended with a laugh. "It's just not _that_ big of a campus. I'm going to see you, kid."

After some thought, Peter decided to give Tony the benefit of the doubt. "Fine.", he finally said in surrender. The man wasn't wrong. The campus wasn't so big that they would never run into each other. Though, it did cross his mind that it happening two days in a row seemed slightly suspicious. Then again, the cafe was located near the staff parking lot so maybe, the man was telling the truth. Of course, that didn't mean he had to bring it all up. He could have just trusted that if there was anything to tell, he would have told him. The mild invasion of his privacy almost felt like betrayal at this point. 

~o~o~o~o~o~

A small amount of resentment carried into the next day as Peter continued to dwell on the fact that Tony suddenly couldn't seem to leave him alone. He'd accused him of skipping class and given him a hard time about seeing a friend who happened to be a girl all in a period of just over twenty-four hours. He considered not leaving his dorm for the entire weekend but when one of his friends invited him to go off campus to a nearby bowling alley he agreed. It seemed pretty safe to say that Tony wouldn't be caught dead in a bowling alley on a Saturday afternoon.

He ended up spending a good portion of the day there. A little more than he'd meant to, really, because he was supposed to be meeting Tony for dinner at six. As such there was no time to go back to his dorm to shower or change clothes. He got out of one car and hurried over to meet Tony at his. As he hopped into the car, he noticed Tony giving him a strange look and assumed it was because he'd been fifteen minutes late meeting him there. 

"Sorry, I'm late I was with some friends.", Peter muttered under his breath when Tony hadn't put the car into gear after several moments. 

"Doing what exactly?", Tony asked in frustration that Peter assumed was stemming from his tardiness. 

"Hanging out.", Peter vaguely replied after deciding that had been in his business enough that week and he didn't feel the need to elaborate. The man hadn't been this overbearing since he was a junior in high school and he wasn't sure how to handle it now. He was technically an adult at this point and didn't need the person who was basically his father questioning him all the time. He was allowed to do things and make decisions outside of his knowledge. 

Tony clenched his jaw and stared at Peter for several seconds as if he were willing him to come clean about something. When silence prevailed he snapped. "You reek of cigarettes, Pete. ...and yes, I do realize you're technically old enough to smoke them but that's not an excuse. You know how much I hate it and don't you dare think that I'm going to allow you to bring that mess home with you. Capisce?"

Having not even considered that smell of his friend's bad habit would seep into his own clothing and hair, Peter just blinked back at the man's nonsensical allegation. He couldn't fathom why Tony could actually believe that he would do such a thing. He hadn't even questioned him about it, he'd once again jumped to conclusions and it was infuriating. "I told you I was with friends. Why would you automatically assume that I was the one smoking?", Peter shouted before he could stop himself. "You've been doing this for days. Being Intrusive and inferring things that you should know aren't true. Just stop! Stop following me. Stop interrogating me. Stop... stop _stalking_ me!"

"Pete, I'm not trying to--", Tony began, only to be cut off by Peter hurridly exiting his car.

"--You know what. I don't even want to go to dinner with you anymore! ...and don't bother calling me later.", Peter angerly announced before slamming the door shut behind himself and storming off across the parking lot without ever looking back. He knew he'd probably regret all of it later but he didn't care at the moment. All he wanted to do was get back to his dorm and scream into his pillow.


	2. From Rash to Relenting

As Peter slammed the door of the car all Tony could do was sit there with his mouth agape. He wanted to say that it felt sudden and out of nowhere but despite the fact that no more than three minutes had passed, he was acutely aware of his screw up. He wasn't even sure what had come over him but in his defense, the kid had gotten into the car with his clothes so full of smoke that even once he was gone the scent lingered. At the same time, the kid wasn't wrong. He had made an assumption but that assumption was based on the facts presented to him. Peter didn't just smell like smoke, _he_ _stunk_. Then he sat there being evasive when asked of his whereabouts. Everything pointed to guilt. _Right? What was he supposed to think? _

Tony sat in that parking lot for at least twenty minutes going in circles with himself about the latest chain of events. Placing the blame every which until he was no longer able to justify anything at all. The more he thought about it the more muddled it all became and he couldn't make sense of it. Finally shaking himself from his confusing line of thought, he looked towards Peter's building hoping to see him returning but he knew better than that. He could hope all he wanted, he wouldn't be hearing from him any time in the immediate future.

He knew from past experience that chasing him down and forcing him to talk before he was ready would only prove to stoke the proverbial fire. The kid had made it clear that he wanted him to back down and as much as he hated it, that was exactly what he was going to have to do. Step back and wait. Peter needed space.

After another ten minutes of fruitless hope, he pulled out of the parking lot and went towards his hotel where he ordered some shitty room service. It wasn't actually shitty, he just felt like complaining. So he ended up sending the hamburger back three times before deciding that they'd probably spit on it at that point and dumped it in the trash. He was just about to call Pepper when his phone lit up. There was a split second that he thought it might be Peter but once he looked at the caller ID all he could do was sigh. It was May.

"Hey there, Tony. I haven't talked to you in a while.", May greeted with the usual bounce to her voice. Though despite that, Tony knew this wasn't going to be a casual chat. Peter had more than likely called her. That was generally the first the kid did when he was angry at him. Talk to May... or Ned. Apparently, this time it had been May.

"Hi, May. What's up?", he replied defeatedly as he waited to see how this was going to go. 

"Well, I hear you've recently been spending your free time stalking college students so I thought I might call and check up on that.", she answered with humor despite the seriousness of the accusation. 

Tony growled in frustration because he didn't know what he'd done to make the kid believe he'd actually been intentionally watching his every move. "I haven't been stalking anyone. I'm on campus this week--", he snapped back but May already seemed to know what he was going to say.

"--Giving guest lectures, I heard. That's why I said 'spare time'. I think it pretty safe to say that you aren't stalking anyone during class. Are you?", she asked with mirth.

Running his hands down his face, Tony took a deep breath. "God! I'm not stalking anyone at any time. Is that what he told you?"

"Oh, he told me a lot of things.", May said without pause. "Like how you accused him of skipping class, invaded his privacy while he was with a friend and screamed at him for going to the bowling alley or something."

"It wasn't like that. None of it was like that.", Tony defended. That was an exaggeration at best. He would never invade Peter's privacy. Hell, he'd made a point of checking with the kid before he ever even offered the university his time. He'd intentionally done that so that Peter wouldn't feel like he was invading his privacy.

"Then tell me what it was like because Peter's pretty upset with your right now.", May replied softly. Tony and Peter didn't fight often but when they did. Nine times out of ten it was a misunderstanding. One or the other of them making snap judgments without any sort of communication. 

After several minutes of thought, Tony confidently started into his side of the story. "I didn't accuse him of skipping class. I asked him if he _was_ skipping classes.", Tony clarified with ease. It wasn't a solid accusation he was trying to get an explanation. "I was on my way into the building where I would be giving a lecture when I saw him out on the lawn. I knew he was supposed to be in class and I wanted to make sure that he wasn't missing a lecture. I know it's a thing that every college kid does at some point but he had such a hard time at the beginning of the year. I was scared. I was _so scared_ that he was going to lead himself back into struggling and I didn't want that. I just wanted to make sure he wasn't messing himself up. Not when things have been going so well."

"Did you tell him any of that?", May asked when Tony had grown quiet again.

"Well, no. He said he would never skip class, I believed him and went to do my lecture. It never even came up again. It was no big deal.", Tony returned with a verbal shrug. He'd really not thought anything of that moment once it had passed. The kid had assured him that he knew better than to skip and that was all he needed to hear."

Humming non-committally, May moved on the next presumed offense. "What about the friend thing? He seemed pretty adamant that you were watching him the whole time he was with her."

"Oh, geez. I really wasn't.", Tony said as he once again ran his hands down his face. He was actually kind of hurt that Peter would think so little of him. "The cafe he was at is right by where I park during the day. I saw him sitting there with a girl and by the time I got in my car, I could see him hugging her good-bye. It's not like I interrupted them or anything. I only walked by. I thought he would tell me about it later and when he didn't I mentioned it. I thought he was on a date and I wanted to be able to tell him that dating in college is more complicated than it is in high school. It can be... stressful, confusing and well, distracting. I wanted to make sure he knew what he was getting into. I wanted to be able to _help him_, that's all."

"Well, why didn't you say that then?", May asked with a small laugh. That seemed reasonable enough that even through his annoyance, she was sure Peter would have been able to see that too.

"Because he was too busy jumping down my throat for calling it a date. I figured it would be best to just leave it at that point.", Tony nearly snapped. He'd been messing with the kid, something they used to do on a daily basis. When the subject had turned sour he dropped so that it wouldn't turn into a full-on argument and he thought he'd managed that. Clearly not.

"Tony... ", May said with some amount of exasperation but she never finished her thought. Not yet anyway. "Never mind, what the deal with the bowling alley thing?"

"The bowling alley had nothing to do with it. I didn't even know that's where he was. He practically refused to tell me.", Tony said with a sigh. All the kid had told him was that he was out with friends and when he'd stayed quiet about what they had been doing he'd been left to decide for himself based on the evidence. "I just know he got into my car smalling like a damned ash try. He reeked May. _He reeked. _ It was so bad that my car probably still smells like that mess. So, yeah, I was angry. It's not like it's unusual for college kids to pick up bad habits. Peer pressure, stress and all that... I was glad to hear it wasn't him that was smoking but, I also wanted to make sure he knew exactly how unacceptable that shit is. It's not coming into my home."

"Tony... ", May said with a roll of her eyes. "I want you to think about all of this for a minute."

"What's there to think about!", Tony snapped back without taking even a second to think about it as asked. He didn't need to think about it. He already knew what had transpired. He was there for crying out loud.

"Do you really not see the problem here?", May asked in surprise before going into a through rant. The man was a genius but sometimes she could swear he had the common sense of a five-year-old. "The kid who you've had in your life for five years, the one who just recently told you that he wanted you to be his dad. That kid, Tony. That kid who you've been encouraging to spread his wings and take off... you snapped at him, came to some ludicrous conclusions considering how well you know him and dropped all of it without any sort of context. You didn't explain anything to him. You didn't tell him you were worried or concerned or that you had advice for him. ...He thinks you don't trust him and he's angry about that."

"I do trust him!", Tony shouted in shock. Of course, he trusted him. He literally trusted him _with his life _but that didn't mean that he never felt any sort of concern for his wellbeing. "I just... God, I just worry. I worry all the time. I don't want him to make the same mistakes I've made. I want him to have all of the good college experiences without the bullshit.--", Tony began.

"--You can't control all of that. He'd going to do things you don't like.", May corrected even though she was sure he already knew that. 

"Trust me I know.", Tony groaned as he thought back to the night that Peter had called him after getting drunk at a party but he'd never held that over his boy's head. They talked about it the day after and it had never been brought up again. 

"...but he's a good kid, Tony. You know that.", May explained with a calm to her voice, now. "You can't jump his case about every little thing just because you happen to be there. You _know_ he'll come to you. He comes to you before he comes to me anymore.", she added before faltering slightly. "Which was a huge punch to the gut at first but I understand why. He's practically grown and he needs the man in his life, his dad, to guide him into manhood. I'll always be there for him and he tells me an awful lot but it's you he goes to when he needs help now."

Suddenly realizing that Peter had taken is his worried confrontations as castigation, he swallowed thickly. "I know."

May could hear the remorse in those two little words and knew that she'd made her point. "Do you see the problem now?"

"Yeah. I... I shouldn't have let it go. I should have said more.", Tony uttered quietly, already preparing a speech in his head. He needed to tell his kid the very things that he'd intentionally not said in an attempt to prevent the very situation they were currently in. He'd never wanted to fight with him. He figured dropping it was the way to go but maybe if he'd been a little more clear, things wouldn't have escalated. "I need to talk to him."

"You do but you know how he is about his space.", May gently reminded, even though she knew he was already well aware of that. 

Tony did know that. He'd been quick to pick up on how much time, Peter needed to cool down and collect his thoughts but his time in Massachusetts was limited at this point. "I'm only here for a few more days. I can't go back without fixing this."

May chuckled at his apprehension. "I don't believe for a minute that he would _let you_ go back without fixing this. He loves you."

Of course, Tony knew that Peter loved him. That was something that was said on nearly a daily basis so he agreed and that was how the called ended. The remainder of the weekend was spent preparing himself for everything he was going to say the moment Peter came to him. He'd hoped that would happen before his lecture Monday morning but it didn't and he was left watching the back of the room the whole time, wishing that Peter was there. In fact, that's how he spent all of his remaining lectures. Waiting in vain for his kid to show up and smile back at him from the last row.

By the time his final speech was over late Wednesday afternoon, Tony's insides were tied up in knots. He was meant to be leaving the next morning and Peter had yet to contact him. They'd waved at each other in passing a few times but nothing had been said and the tension between was starting to become painful. So as he started walking towards his car at the end of the day he pulled out his phone with every intention of calling his son but by the time he got to his car, he no longer needed to. Peter was standing right there leaning up against the driver's side door, looking down at his phone. 


	3. From Feud to Forgiveness

From the moment Peter slammed the car door and turned his back to Tony, he already had angry tears filling his eyes and threatening to spill down his cheeks. However, he didn't dare reach up to wipe them away until he was well out of the man's sight. He didn't want the tears to be misinterpreted because he wasn't sad or upset he was furious. The man who he thought cared about him, who said he loved him on a regular basis had just spent the last several days chastising him and making wild assumptions. It was as if every ounce of trust he thought Tony had in him was suddenly nonexistent. 

He stormed through the halls, walking right past every single person even the ones who were trying to ask him what was wrong. He didn't want to talk to any of them at the moment. He didn't want to explain anything. He wasn't even sure how to explain it because saying, '_Yeah, you see the guy that I call Dad, well, he apparently thinks I can no longer be trusted to do anything right and I'm not even clear why_.', seemed insane. So rather than stopping as they repeatedly called his name he darted into his small room, immediately showered the incrimination smell from his body and climbed into bed to call May.

His conversation with her had gone exactly how he'd thought it would. She'd heard him out, letting him shout and cry while remaining neutral and nonjudgmental all at once, only offering advice when he was ready to hear it. In the end, he allowed her to suggest that he take some time for himself to think things over and then try to make amends. He didn't actually need her to tell him that. Any time he and Tony fought that was how it worked. He would wallow in it for a few days before thinking it through and then seeking the man out in order to repair the damage. Though, honestly, this time he was afraid that things would never go back to being the same. The idea that Tony didn't really trust him was more painful than the argument it's self.

The remainder of the weekend was spent in his room save for the outings required to obtain food but even those he kept short. All he did was sit around and try to push back the alternating waves of angry disappointment that Tony no longer found him to be responsible or trustworthy and the terrifying possibility that their relationship was irreparable. By Monday he'd nearly convinced himself that no longer needed Tony's trust or approval, that he was an adult and that everything would be fine. That is until he ran into the man on campus late that afternoon on his way to class. Nothing was said but Tony raised his hand in greeting and offered a cautious smile as he passed in the distance. That small gesture was enough to send a pang of guilt to rip right through him and he didn't even know why. 

The next few days passed slowly and as they did so, Peter began to feel less and less angry though the trepidation that he felt whenever he thought about reconciling with the man remained stubbornly in the back of his mind. Even so, he knew that time was running short. If he wanted to talk things out with Tony he needed to do it before he left. So come Wednesday afternoon, he finished his classes and rushed towards Tony's car. If he waited for him there, he wouldn't miss him. He just hoped that the man would talk to him.

He stayed there for over an hour, leaning on the car door and messing around on his phone to attempt to distract himself from the various thoughts and concerns that were going through is head. Then just as he was about to send Tony a text, he heard footsteps approaching him.

"Hey, kid.", Tony said quietly to get the boy's attention. He was pretty sure that with his enhanced senses he'd already heard him approaching but he didn't want to risk it. He'd made enough assumptions over the last few days. "You waiting for me?"

"Mm-hmm.", Peter replied, never really bothering to look up from the rock he was rolling around with the toe of his shoe. "I uh, I wanted to ask you, you know, before you left... if you're, if you're still mad. ...at me."

Tony's shoulders had dropped by the time the boy had finally stuttered out his question. All this time that he'd thought Peter was angry with him. He'd not realized the concern had gone both ways. God, he really had screwed up this time because unlike the majority of the fights they'd had in the past, Peter had done literally nothing wrong. This time it was all on him. "I was never mad at you Pete. I was a lot of things but I was never mad. You did nothing wrong."

Peter nodded his head, relieved to hear that Tony wasn't mad but more importantly that he didn't sound anything but soft and caring. "Well, if you're really not mad then, can we maybe... maybe go get some dinner or something?", he asked carefully. There was still a small part of him screaming that this wasn't fixable and that he should run while he can but he powered through.

Looking at the generally anxious posture of the boy before him, Tony smiled softly. "Sure, kiddo. I'd like that.", he said before unlocking the car and watching as Peter retreated to the passenger's side, only climbing in himself once Peter was inside. Then before he could even get the key into the ignition he found himself unable to wait any longer to say what he needed to say. Dropping the keys back into his lap he turned towards the child he called son and sighed. "Before we say anything else, Pete, _I need to say that I'm sorry_.", he said with as much honest emotion as he could pull into those words. 

Unintentionally ignoring the apology, Peter nodded his head and looked pleadingly towards the older man beside him. "I don't know what happened. I don't understand why you don't trust me anymore. I've been trying and trying to figure it out and I can't. What did I do?", he asked, nearly on the verge of tears before the last word ever left his mouth. He wondered if he would ever outgrow the tearful responses to emotion. Having to wipe at his eyes when he was trying to sound serious was annoying. 

"You didn't do anything, kid. None of that was about me not trusting you.", Tony assured, pulling a small travel packet of tissue out of the center console and handed them over to Peter without judgment. "I just, I worry about you. Probably more than I should and my concern came off as something else entirely. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Well, you did upset me.", Peter replied with a hint of aggravation in his tone. Not only with himself for crying but with Tony for being so daft as to think that he'd not be upset by any of the things he'd said to him the week prior. "You told me off for things that I thought you knew I would never ever do and then there was the whole thing with my friend and... I thought you knew that I would tell you about that kind of stuff. I mean like if I had a girlfriend or something. I've always told you everything. Maybe not right away but, Tony, I do. I tell you absolutely everything. Even the bad stuff. Even when I'm scared you'll be mad at me or that you'll be disappointed. I--"

"--Hey, I know, Buddy.", Tony cut in, as Peter's words began to run together with emotion. He already knew all of these things and he couldn't come up with any sort of good excuse as to why he would have let that knowledge fall to the wayside as he had. "I messed up. I messed up big time, yeah? Let me explain.", he softly pleaded and when Peter nodded his head lightly he went into a detailed explanation of everything that had been running through his head the previous week. He talked about his concerns, his fears and his desire to offer advice before once again attempting to persuade the boy into understanding that he'd never once stopped trusting him.

When Tony had finished his speech, the car went silent as Peter attempted to let it all soak in. It made sense in weird, 'Tony logic' sort of way. He was sure he would never _fully_ understand how the man's mind worked but at the same time, he knew he had a better understanding of it than almost anyone else. "Why didn't you say any of that?", Peter strained before allowing himself to loosen up again. "I mean I probably still would have been annoyed but... _that's different._"

"I don't know, Pete. ", Tony sighed out because even he wasn't quite sure what on Earth had made him think that not explaining himself would make the situation any better. He knew better than anyone than not sitting down and talking things over ever solved anything. "I didn't say anything because I was trying _not_ to fight with you, believe it or not.", he said with a humorless laugh. "I dropped the subject because I thought that's what you wanted me to do. I didn't realize that I was leaving you to think I was just being overbearing for the sake of being overbearing." More silence followed as Peter stared off into the distance deep in thought and Just as Tony was about to start the car, he paused upon hearing his kid's quiet observation. 

"You said that you would love me even if I made a hundred mistakes.", Peter said without any sort of frame of reference but Tony seemed to keep up. He nearly always did. 

"I did say that and I meant it.", Tony affirmed as he reached his hand across the car to rest it on Peter's knee. Up until this point he'd been afraid to offer any sort of physical reassurance because he was scared the kid would bolt away from him. However, the tension seemed to have passed and the motion felt right. "That doesn't mean that I'm not going to try to step in when I can to help you avoid them."

Nodding his head, Peter looked at the man right in the eyes. "You used to tell me that making mistakes is part of the learning process.", he stated matter-of-factly remembering all of the times that Tony had talked him through his many social blunders, super-hero missteps, and general lapses in judgment.

"Yeah, I did.", Tony replied with a smile. He too remembered how many times those exact words had come out of his mouth. "...but back then I was right there to help you through those mistakes. I guess I just feel _really far away_ _from you_ these days and being _right here_ this week... I guess I overcompensated. Maybe went a little overboard."

"A little?", Peter asked, smiling for the first time since Tony had addressed him by the car. If that had been Tony going a little overboard he really didn't want to know what him going completely overboard looked like. 

"Okay, fine, a lot.", Tony replied with a roll of his eyes. " ...but it's only because I love you."

"I love you too.", Peter returned, the words slipping easily through his lips despite the fact that he's not said them to the man in days. He already felt better about the entire situation but the tiny nagging part of his brain still wasn't one hundred percent convinced that things were back to the way they were before. "...and you really do trust me?"

"I do. ...and I don't ever want you to think that I don't ever again. Pete, I would trust you with_ my life_.", Tony said with such seriousness that Peter had no choice but to believe him and the weight that lifted from his shoulders as that affirmation had him sighing in relief. After that Tony finally put the car in gear and started down the road towards the closest sit-down style restaurant. They hadn't gotten too terribly far before Peter was looking over and attempting to get his attention once more but this time the address made his heart sing.

"Hey, Dad? Next time you're worried about me can you just _say that_?"

All Tony could do was smile. Peter had forgiven him. "Yeah. I can do that."

Nodding his head, Peter smiled too because he finally knew that everything was going to be alright and at this point, he was just sad that he'd missed out on so much of the time that Tony had been there. The man would be leaving the next morning. He thought about that for the entire ride and then second they stepped out into the busy parking lot, he found himself bargaining for a little bit more time. "Can I stay with you tonight?", he asked as the headed towards the door. "At the hotel?"

"You bet. Wouldn't be a good proper visit without a sleepover.", Tony said with a laugh, reaching an arm over his son's shoulders to guide him through the door. "Though I think I'll enjoy this one better than our last one."

A very small part of Peter wanted to be annoyed that Tony would bring that up at the moment but at the same time, he knew he was only messing with him. Something he did often and if he were being honest, he'd missed it. So rather than taking any sort of indignant stance, he smiled, paused and pulled Tony into a hug right in the middle of the restaurant lobby without caring who was watching or inevitably taking their picture. "Yeah... me too.", he admitted with a sigh

It seemed that the entire incident had passed without repercussion and they had both learned something from it, though there was probably still more to talk about. However, all of that was put on hold for the evening as they made up for the lost time and really it was one of the most fun evenings that Peter'd had in quite a while. Even when Tony insisted that they turn out the lights by midnight because '_it was late'_ and he '_knew for a fact that he had a class first thing in the morning'_. ...and as he was closing his eyes, Peter wondered if he would ever be able to get away with not giving the man a copy of his schedule_ ever_ again. 


End file.
